Fool's Gold
by WritingWithReason
Summary: "Tell me, Austin, just how greedy are you?" Four hundred years of history. Three months to find it. Two hearts drawn together. One legendary pirate treasure. Will they be able to seek the hidden riches of Captain Henry Avery or will they plunder and only turn up with Fool's Gold?


**warning: this was only briefly proofread. i apologize for mistakes.**

* * *

The pillar behind him crumbled as the bullet pierced clean through the concrete. He winced and turned away, blocking the stray debris from his eyes. The echoes of gunshots filled the great hall of the building. His own pistol shook as he fired, successfully hitting his target who collapsed on the ground.

"Dude, any day now," he growled into his walkie. He glanced over his shoulder, but only to retract his head back behind the wall. _So much for the plan, Dez._

The men on the other side of the room continued to yell at each other all the while trying to get at least one bullet into his body. So far, luck wasn't in their favor. He continued to shield himself behind the gigantic granite column.

"Almost got it." Dez's muffled voice appeared over the radio. "Give me like two more minutes."

Austin glared at the device clipped onto his belt, hoping his friend could feel the frustration and slight anger that he was currently sending. "Damn it." Once again, he peered behind him. He had to get to that door; the door that just so happened to be blocked by all the goons shooting at him. "Oh, screw it."

Tucking his pistol back into its holster, he shifted to his AK, locked and loaded, and braced himself before exposing himself from the pillar. More shouts and projectile aimed for Austin as he made a mad dash towards the door, dodging left and right.

He managed to take down several of them while zigzagging through the broken furniture and shattered glass. Time seemed to slow when all of a sudden, the ground shook and a blast sent him falling backwards onto his back-along with at least a dozen of the men flying above him.

"Did it work?" Dez asked. Austin coughed, picking himself up from the floor. The dust from the explosion filled the room around him before finally settling revealing his escape route.

"Yeah," He cleared his throat, slinging his gun over his back. "A warning would be just fine next time, buddy."

"I did tell you to give me two minutes," Dez retorted over the walkie talkie. Austin rolled his eyes. He picked up the sheet of paper that managed to slip out of his pocket. "I had to move the car about a block away. There were too many of those thugs around and one of them was bound to get suspicious. Just go past where I parked and take a right at that one tree that looked like Jimmy's-"

"I got it, Dez."

"The front entrance is blocked by guards so you'll have to get out from the back. There's an open gate near the kitchen's back door." Dez advised. Austin rounded the corner of the hall, attempting to blend in with the other guests that were surprised by the blow. They were all coughing as the grime coated their throats. He side-eyed any guards that sprinted past him towards where he just came from.

"All that debris ruined my suit," Austin mumbled. He heard Dez chuckle through the walkie.

"You wore that suit once, dude," He said. More shouting surrounded him. "You spent the entire night complaining on how you felt like your tie was choking you. And that your mom took eighty million pictures of you and Cassidy. So that suit is probably thankful you took it out for something to see other than sweaty dancing and hormonal teenagers. This time around it's high class, black market billionaires who've got nothing better to do than buy more useless crap for their mansions."

"Let's not bring that up again. Ever." Austin finally made it to the kitchen area and he maneuvered through the panicked employees towards the back. The gate was indeed opened and he squeezed through it discretely. Austin then made into a sprint and vaulted over the stone wall, firmly on the ground. "That took twenty minutes. Fifteen for things to come crumbling down."

After more walking than Austin would've liked-he did just fight off a bunch of goons-he finally made it to the van where Dez had everything set up, from their surveillance cameras, gizmos and gadgets, and all their spare weapons.

He opened the passenger's side door and discovered the redhead packing up.

"Did you get it?"

"Yeah-" An engine roar interrupted him. He whipped his head back over his shoulder. A black SUV barrelled closer and closer to them. "Shit, dude, we gotta go. Now."

Dez scrambled to place the final pieces of equipment in their cases when Austin jumped into the driver's seat.

"Dez! Forget the stuff," Austin huffed as he turned the key. He heard the redhead groan, throwing whatever he had in his hand on the floor of the car. The tires screeched when his foot met the gas pedal with such force.

"'Forget the stuff' he said," Dez grumbled as the equipment clanked around in the back. "I spent my last paycheck trying to fix everything that was broken the last time I threw them back there, y'know?"

The blond shook his head, keeping his eyes on the swerving road. "Dez, I'll replace anything that's damaged, okay? But as of right now, I'd rather get these goons shooting at us off our ass than worry about the gear." His foot pushed down on the pedal more as several cars raced behind them.

His partner glanced at the side windows and sighed. He turned his body and practically dove into the back seat, opening up a compartment that held their spare weapons. Dez unhooked a remote that controlled the explosives dispenser that he installed himself. Several small grenades released from the hatch, spreading out onto the ground as the black SUVs continued on their tail.

"Kaboom," Dez smirked, pressing a single button. Austin grunted from the jolt pulsating through the earth as the explosives ignited behind them. The vehicles that were right on their heels experienced the hardest hits from the blasts. One car had flipped onto its side and the one behind it crashed right into it; the collision created a blockade that prevented any of the others from chasing the two.

A few moments of silence passed between the two and Dez returned to the passenger's seat, buckling his seatbelt. Austin then chuckled.

"Kaboom? That's the best you had?"

* * *

He was analyzing the fragile pieces of paper when he heard a smack of flesh and a yelp. Austin looked up to see the redhead bickering with their petite Latina friend. Trish was their inside man-or well, woman-she had access to most of their vital contacts and could practically get them permits to go anywhere, give or take a few locations. She may have been two feet shorter than the two guys in their team, but she definitely was the strongest and most willing out of everyone in the whole company. She could take down a whole football team with her eyes closed and in her sleep; and hell, could sleep through the end of the world.

"It's my Latina blood, _Luna,_ " she told him once. She also called him by his last name in Spanish ninety percent of the time. Which irritated him eighty-nine percent of the time.

Austin straightened and walked towards the two. Dez had his arms crossed and Trish was flailing her arms around, the usual scene for when he was being reprimanded by her.

"I told you idiots not to screw up the car too much!" She said. "That was a rental; now Starr's going to be on my ass about using company money to pay for repairs."

"He shouldn't be so willy-nilly about it then," Dez retorted; he picked up one of his new prototypes and began to unscrew the bolt at the bottom. "And what does he expect? It was a highly secured auction. Did he not think that they'd have guns in case something bad goes down?"

"He thought you two wouldn't be as careless you usually are," One of her eyebrows rose as she crossed her arms across her chest. "Ya'll could've been more subtle. Tighter execution. Silencers on your guns-"

"Every gun we brought had silencers, Trish. Dez made sure that our walkies didn't interfere with the same frequencies as the ones the guards were using. We anticipated it to be an easy slip, but we also came prepared in case it all went to shit," Austin chimed in. "A few slips caused a change of plan-"

"Unfortunately," Jimmy Starr entered the room, wiping his glasses with a small cloth. "We can no longer afford to trip up. A lot of this company rests on executing missions with little to no mishaps, you two of all people should know that being here since this company was birthed."

"It wasn't entirely our fault, Jimmy," Austin sighed. "Apparently, our pals from L.D. Relics were also eying the charts. If the idiots didn't start blowing up the room, maybe we would've gotten out of there without a hiccup."

"You should have removed yourselves from the situation then. Rather than risking the company's expenses."

"Like hell I would," the blond scoffed, shaking his head. "There was no way I would've let those punks get their dirty little hands on this crucial piece. L.D. Relics can cheat and try to trip me all they want, but I'm getting to that finish line first."

Dez and Trish gave each other a knowing look. They knew that Austin wasn't one to not follow through with a plan. And with a rare case like this, it would've eaten him alive if it slipped through his fingers; especially if he was the reason why the whole thing went south. Even Jimmy knew that. Austin had spent nearly half of his career reading and searching for the location of where the infamous Henry Avery hid his piles of gold and he was closer now than he had ever been before. After some time, he discovered that L.D. had his eyes set on the same treasure.

"Austin, you know I've always admired your tenacity for years," he said, with a remorse look on his face. "But as much as finding this treasure is your top priority, keeping this company's reputation above ground is mine. L.D. Relics has never been one to follow the rules of this game. Here, we do things the right way, the legal way. We get the permits to start digging. We go in and out of deals with absolutely no blood on our hands. This company thrives on not going in guns blazing."

The twenty-four year old glanced at his superior, slowly getting what he's hinting. "You want me to not excavate on your turf."

"You're a great asset to the company, kid. You're smart and clever as hell," Jimmy explained. "And you will continue to have access to our resources here, you have our support in that. However, I can't have you bringing L.D. Relics' dirty work into it. I want you to succeed in this, Austin. But I'm afraid that what you're hoping to accomplish might call for more...extreme steps."

"Illegal steps, you mean," Dez muttered. Jimmy turned his head from Austin to the other male in the room and nodded slowly. "Higher stakes, bigger guns, deadlier kabooms."

Austin's jaw clenched as he realized that Jimmy was right. There's no way they would be able to do that much work under Starr Excavations' roof. They were in the spotlight too much, with several museums trying to outbid each other for the antiques they found over the years. One illegal dealing could set the whole company back.

He pushed himself off of the table he was leaning on. Trish looked at him while Dez straightened. The three had been a team for years, retrieving some of the most valuable artifacts ever to be found by any excavation team. He wouldn't trust anyone else with his life.

"Trish," he said turning to the curly haired Latina. "Pack all the necessary equipment into the car." She gave him a look. "Yes, the one that's beat up. Dez, can you call Gavin and see if we can use his old loft on the other side of town as a base? I know it's big enough, but still won't attract that much attention."

His partners glanced at each other before returning their eyes to the blond. "On it." The pair said in unison.

Austin returned his attention to the man beside him. "When I find that old pirate's reserve of valuables, anything you want me to set aside for you?" A smile appeared on the corner of the his lips. The older male chuckled, his shoulders shaking with amusement.

"The wife's been looking for a new set of wine glasses. If you happen to come across some jewel encrusted goblets, put them on hold for me." Jimmy's tone was rather joking, but Austin held the note in his mind. He owed the guy a lot for all that he's done for him throughout the years.

"Fancy drinking cups," the blond nodded. "Deal."

Jimmy held out his hand and Austin gladly took it with his own. The two firmly gripped each other's. "I meant what I said earlier, son. Starr Excavations' resources are at your disposal. The only deal breaker is if you get yourself into forbidden territory. Once you've crossed that line, you're on your own."

Austin remained quiet and answered with a nod. Releasing his hold from Jimmy's hand, he carefully folded all of the letters and clues he had found over the years into his journal which he then slipped into his back pocket.

Moments later, he appeared at the lot and walked toward his two team members. They turned in time to see their friend approaching with a determined expression.

"Gavin's out of town," Trish informed him. "He said he would've given us the key to the loft if he hadn't had to leave last minute."

Austin sighed.

"But I called up one of my other contacts and she said she was fine with us heading over there." Dez imputed, cleaning the barrel of one of their pistols.

"Well, let's hope that she doesn't mind a couple of treasure hunters under her roof."

* * *

 **first chapters are always the worst. sigh. but i've been working on this story and wanting to write it for the longest time ever. i hope you guys enjoy it as much as i enjoy writing it. i'm truly in love with the plot of this. for the most part, this story will be rated T, but it may change. who knows. i'll give you a heads up if things get a bit steamy ;)**

 **don't forget to leave me your thoughts in the comments!**

 **xxx**

 **lecx**


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